SteamOS public beta live with hardware requirements

Finally, SteamOS 1.0 public beta is live to download and the Linux-based open-source OS is recommended for those with at least some experience of Linux already, so this won’t be for everyone unless you are prepared to learn a little first.

The software takes its base from Debian 7.1, which most experienced users know is a pretty stable release for this Linux version.

Valve listed the SteamOS beta release notes along with hardware requirements in a QA post. The main changes in SteamOS 1.0 include a configuration to auto-update from the SteamOS repositories, a custom graphics compositor for smooth transition between the SteamOS system overlay, games and Steam itself.

You will also find a number of third-party drivers installed along with an updated graphics stack, although the AMD and Intel graphics support is a work in progress.

The full SteamOS 1.0 hardware requirements can be read in detail via the above link, but in a nutshell you will find at least 4GM of memory, currently an NVIDIA graphics card, over 500GB of hard drive space, an AMD or Intel 64-bit CPU and a USB port for installing the software.

Die-hard fans feel that the SteamOS public beta is a good start, but you don’t need to look far to find many critics that feel SteamOS will fail. Leave your thoughts on this project and whether you think it will succeed below in the comments.